Greetings from the East Bay!

Why hello there my wonderful readers! Today is Friday!! Hope you have something great planned for the weekend ahead, if not being couch potatoes and homebodies are fine because I am one too!

Sorry for the lack of updates, but this post should get you all up to speed on my fabulous life. Ready? Okay here goes!

As you can probably tell, I have really moved (its about time right?) from LA to the East Bay (for those of you that aren't familiar, I'm east of Berkeley). The transition has been tough, since I tend to reminisce way to much, and eat sandwiches all day long. I'm sure the reminiscing will stop once school starts on Monday (woot, woot!). But the sandwiches, will probably stick around for a while. You know I've never been so sick of sandwiches, but Subway and the local grocery markets sure make it easy and lets face it quite affordable! Don't even talk to me about rice, I just miss it so. Oh and one thing that will always remain, I still drink Coke and plenty of it. 

Just 2 days, and the start of my culinary journey begins. Since I don't have any of my bakeware here, I thought that I would share my adventures in schooling (and whatever I bake there, in the process). I also hope to share some stories and give some insight and advice to those who might be interested in taking this route (getting their culinary certifications at a Community College).

Also, a big thank you to my amazing family, and wonderful friends (you know who you are) for your endless support and great advice! Just know that I will be there for you as much as you were for me and I hope to make you proud! I love you all so much!

----

I would also like to share with you the only picture that was taken at my very first event, yes it was really that cool. I was invited to be a vendor at an event, Hot & Bothered in Hollywood, Ca. To sum the whole day up, we sold out! And that is really all you need to know. 

Also, I received an order from another high school friend, for her sister's birthday. It was butterfly themed and to be honest I'm never pleased with anything I ever make, but I've learned that if the client is happy and enjoys it...that is really all that ever matters. 

*My tip for this post? Using the AmeriColor Gels! They are flippin' amazing for coloring your fondant (no toothpick required). The colors you get are what you see on the bottle, mixing the different colored gels will give you some colors that you never knew you wanted (granted I only used blue in the photos below). I've tried using the ever so famous Wilton brand, but its messier, and you waste a whole lot of toothpicks. 

If you are in the LA/OC area, you can pick it up in-store at Hobby Lobby or online if you don't live near one. 

Thank you for reading! Happy August! :)

I Heart Basketball!

I really do. You probably haven't noticed that I'm a huge basketball fan, and that I can cheer EXTREMELY loud for such a small person. I'm told my neighbors can hear me quite loudly when I'm watching a Laker game at home. :)

So far this has got to be one of my favorite cake requests EVER. A basketball cake for a fan, not just any fan but I'm sure a hardcore Laker fan such as myself.

For the cake, I used the "Sports Ball Pan" from Wilton. Here are my tips (for anyone who is interested in tackling a project like this) :

• Grease the pan with shortening (not butter, really such a difference!) and dust the pan with flour generously.
• The directions that come with the pan say that it will take about 40 minutes, which is completely false in my case. I might have a really crappy old oven from the 1990's, but it took me about twice as long. So when baking this cake check your time at 45 minutes (then continue to check at increments of 10 minutes). Total time it spent in oven? 1 hour and 30 minutes!
• Wait at least 10 minutes before removing cake from pan. It should slide out like butter if you grease and flour it well.

The cake I made was chocolate (with just a hint of coffee) and lovely vanilla buttercream, that was excellent for piping! You can get the recipe by clicking here. 

I debated using black licorice, black sparkly glitter gel, and black butter cream frosting. 

The winner? Black Licorice. I know it probably doesn't taste as good as those yummy Red Vines, but it makes a deep, edgier, clean-cut black line for a basketball. So what I did was cut strips of black licorice and lined them like a basketball.

Frosting Color? I used Wilton Orange, and a hint of Copper and Brown.

I also created a scoreboard of his birthday, and for the time I used the couple's anniversary date! How cute :) 

As always thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoy your weekend and we have another Laker game tomorrow night! Woot woot!

Hello Kitty Cupcakes!

Hi ho my fellow readers and bloggers,

This coming weekend is one of my dear friend's birthday Yi-ki! This post is dedicated to you, I wish you another amazing year full of good health and happiness. Happy Birthday! Love ya! :)

While reading Yi-ki's blog, I saw a mocha milkshake picture she put up and I knew her flavor of cupcake would be mocha! And of course the Hello Kitty design is pretty self-explanatory. Enjoy!

Here is the recipe:

Mocha Cupcakes with Espresso Buttercream

Yields 12 regular sized cupcakes.

1-1/3 all-purpose flour

1/6 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/6 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup whole milk
½ cup strong brewed coffee
1½ teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature

1. Mix the espresso powder into the brewed coffee until dissolved; set aside to cool to room temperature.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners.

3. Whisk together the flour, both sets of cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. Beat the butter and both sugars together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat until combined. In a measuring cup, combine the milk, brewed coffee mixture and vanilla. Slowly add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee mixture, ending with the flour mixture.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 liners. Baking for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting cupcakes.

(This recipe for the cupcakes and buttercream frosting has been adapted and the original source is from My Baking Addiction and browneyedbaker--- thanks so much!)

Espresso Buttercream Frosting

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2½ cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ teaspoons espresso powder

1 teaspoon of milk or heavy whipping cream

1. Mix the espresso powder into the vanilla until dissolved; set aside.

2. Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the powdered sugar a little at a time, waiting until it is mostly incorporated before adding more. Once all of the powdered sugar has been added, scrape the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium-high and whip until fluffy, about a minute or two. Add the espresso and vanilla mixture and continue to mix at medium-high until it is completely incorporated. For a more creamy frosting, I added a teaspoon of milk. 

The frosting is super yummy if I do say so myself! I ended up eating the frosting straight from the bowl! The cupcake is light and moist with a hint of coffee and chocolate! What can be better?

Here is what you need to make the Hello Kitty toppers:

-Candy Melts in assorted colors (I used Wilton Candy Melts)
-Plastic Bags or Squeegee bottles
-Microwaveable Bowls
-Spoons
-Wax Paper
-Outline of Hello Kitty (2 inches or so)
-Tape
-White Sprinkles

1. Take your Outline of Hello Kitty, lay on a flat surface. Take a sheet of wax paper and tape it over the paper outline of Hello Kitty.
2. Melt your Candy Melts in the microwave. Let them cool for about a few minutes but no longer than that. They tend to harden really quickly.
3. Transfer your cooled candy melts into a plastic bag with the tip cut off or in squeegee bottles.
4. Now start with the bow and follow your outline squeezing with enough pressure to get the desired look. You may sprinkle some white polka dot sprinkles on top.
5. Continue with a different color and trace Hello Kitty's face. Finish with her eyes and mouth.
6. Let the design cool for about 1 hour or til candy has hardened.
7. Remove the wax paper and place onto your cupcake!

*You will need to work fairly quick because the candy can get hard fast, if it does get to hard to pipe you will need to reheat your candy melts.

Have a great week everyone! Enjoy this wonderful "winter" weather here we have in SoCal! :)

Happy Thanksgayving! :)

Thanksgiving, my favorite day of the year is just less than a week away! A part of me wants to expect less from this great holiday so that I won't be disappointed, but in all honesty I'm never disappointed with Turkey Day. Okay, well maybe that it goes by way too fast!

Recently, I've been in "Thanksgiving Dessert Overload", which means I can't decide what the heck I'm going to make for Thanksgiving. Countless ideas of desserts (pumpkin! pumpkin! pumpkin!) are in my head, I've written on post-its with ideas and torn them up a day later, realizing that they weren't good enough. Boo.

Alas, this past week I've written a post-it for 3 dessert finalists. We shall see what happens next week!

In other news, I had a great opportunity to make cupcakes from one of my oldest friends. Her idea was to bring dessert (smart idea! I always do dessert for a potluck. Super easy :) : Cupcakes, spelling out the words, "Happy Thanksgayving" for her gay friends. How creative! Anywho, here are the pictures below:

Awesome, no? :) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving my readers! I'll see you back here after Thanksgiving!